This week, we like to showcase the final variant of the infamous Fralthi II-class heavy cruiser. Besides the newest texture features, recent developments in game engine design has enabled us to put the heavy turrets on the hull, exactly the way the original model was from Wing Commander 3.

This heavy cruiser is one of the most powerful capital ships in the Kilrathi war chest. Surprisingly fast and maneuverable for its size, the Fralthi II-class is armed to the proverbial teeth with more heavy-hitting weaponry and stronger armor than any frontline Kilrathi warship short of a battleship or dreadnought. Mostly assigned to large battle groups in support of a heavy carrier, no starbase, colony, or warship is safe when this starship is on an attack approach. In addition, its respectable fighter compliment can be used almost as effectively as a light carrier.

As we get closer to the release of Wing Commander Saga, we are continuing our policy of releasing new information about our upcoming game every few weeks to continue to keep you up to date on the project's progress. Today we would like to share some new screenshots, that are all enviromental in nature. You will note our visual style for the space background has evolved since the original Prologue release. You'll be seeing more of our new nebulas/planets as we continue pushing out media. These shots are just an appetizer.

For today's update we would like to showcase a Kilrathi warship that was cut from Wing Commander 3. The concept art of this ship was found in the "Making of WC3" CD-ROM that Origin released with its first official WC3 guide.

As mentioned in the artwork, this is a Kilrathi cruiser. But it's very different from the notorious Fralthi II-class cruiser from WC3, so it's assumed as a different ship class. The reasons we decided to classify this warship as a light cruiser is because not only does it fills in the gaps for a light cruiser (the Fralthi II is a heavy cruiser), the existence of a Kilrathi light cruiser is also confirmed through Page 49 of the Wing Commander 3 novel.

There is no official classname to this, and until one can be confirmed, ConFleet Intel has codenamed this warship the Fralath-class, as the name (like all the other Kilrathi cruiser names) is a derivative of the original term Fralthi.

The Kilrathi developed this light cruiser to counter the Terran's superiority in fighter technology. Bristling with hordes of anti-fighter guns, these cruisers are normally found in defense of larger Kilrathi assets but are more then capable to serving as a raider or flagship for smaller fleet units. A Terran pilot's worst nightmare, a single Fra'lath-class cruiser can literally lay waste to entire formations of fighters and bombers.

For today's update we would like to showcase our final version of the Kilrathi Ralarrad-class light destroyer.

One of the most prevalent Kilrathi warships found on the front lines, the Ralarrad-class light destroyer is a maneuverable multi-purpose vessel that is equally competent in picket duties, fleet escort, and strike missions. Carrying a token fighter complement, the light destroyer is a mainstay workhorse of the Kilrathi war machine, wielding the energy weapons to effectively engage in anti-aircraft duties as well as the missile strike capability to pose a serious threat to larger Terran capital ships.

As a part of our development process, the visual style of Wing Commander Saga continues to evolve. One of our design goals is to give attention to each detail, creating a high quality visual, audio, game play, and dramatic experience. In this design philosophy details matter. This week, we would like to showcase our new Confed missiles.

Saga team member limdaepl brought his creative talent to the task of updating the look of our missiles. We are trying to be faithful to the original design of the Wing Commander missiles while bringing them into the artistic style of Saga. Check out the results in these screenshots.

This week we are pleased to welcome a new staff member to the Wing Commander Saga team! Flanker is a recent graduate with a bachelor degree in Communications and Multimedia Design, and he is also a practicing concept artist. He has joined the Wing Commander Saga Development team as our new 2D artist. He will play an important role in helping us design interface elements, illustrations, and weapon effects.

Flanker is already actively involved in the sci-fi community as an artist and we look forward to his future contributions to our project. We are confident that he will help bring our vision for Saga into reality.

Welcome to the latest Saga news update! This week, we are very pleased to announce that the highly skilled composer Jeff Ball has signed on to work on the music production and sound design for Wing Commander Saga. Jeff's unique range of work and talent will bring the soundtrack for Saga to a new level.

About the composer

Jeff composes dramatic and feature-enhancing music for games, film, and television. Being self-taught compositionally, he has developed a powerful sixth sense for the deep, visceral communication of music and thus makes a valuable contribution of fresh ideas and initiatives that are aligned with established themes.

We decided to share an excerpt from the soundtrack. As you listen to the ambient theme just imagine launching from a Confederation carrier. We feel confident the final soundtrack will reflects the epic scope of the game while giving the players a subtle sense of its grandness.

For this week, the Saga team is proud to announce a vessel that a lot of Wing Commander 3 fans have been looking forward to see. It was a vessel that was long in the making, there were several variants and revisions to make sure that it was up to our standards. And now, we're finally ready to showcase ... the Kilrathi's Ralaxath-class destroyer.

The Kilrathi's newest and most advanced destroyer, the Ralaxath-class closes the gap created by technologically superior Terran capships. This "heavy destroyer leader" combines superior maneuverability and acceleration with enhanced firepower and armor. Initial reports show these ships serving as individual flagships for destroyer squadrons and smaller flotillas to totally replacing Ralarrad-class vessels in the traditional fleet escort role. A serious threat to capships and fighters alike, Confed pilots are warned to approach this warship with all due caution.

Welcome to the latest news update! This week, we'll cover a few different topics, including space environments, our work flow process, and feature creep.

Last week we got all nebula backgrounds done, and they came out very well. The in-game visual experience is now amazing. Each star system has it's own backdrop, giving each one an individual flair. Take a look at our latest screenshots for a few examples. These are from multiple environments, and you'll be seeing more as we continue pushing out media. So, basically, you can consider those shots an appetizer.

Regarding our work flow process, there's a multi-disciplined group that meets (usually twice a week) to review where we currently are and to make plans for where they are going. Any of you aspiring modders out there, be prepared; design is all about meetings, it seems. In this case, the meetings are well worth the time, though. Everyone is all on the same page, and we find that running our creative process this way is both more effective and more efficient.

We are also working hard together to avoid "feature creep." Feature creep, for the readers out there who are unfamiliar with the term, is a software development term that basically means that a project keeps getting delayed because features keep getting added to the product. Now, given that definition, it may sound like avoiding feature creep would be a relatively easy task. The problem is, feature creep can be both subtle and seductive - especially when you're working on your own project. There's an intense desire to keep adding elements to your product. Some of these elements are small, but they add up - that's the subtly. Also, many of the features we want to add are really great ideas, so it's hard to let those great ideas go. Honestly, sometimes you don't let an idea go because it is just too cool - that's the seduction.

At any rate, it's always better to go for depth rather than breadth, meaning you should pick your core gameplay features and polish, polish, polish until you die of exhaustion. It ends up being much more fun for the game player, and that's the audience we need to please.